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ORNITOLOGIA NEOTROPICAL 12: 181–182, 2001 © The Neotropical Ornithological Society

FIRST RECORD OF TACZANOWSKI’S TINAMOU (NOTHOPROCTA TACZANOWSKII) FOR BOLIVIA

Christopher J. Vogel1, Mauricio Herrera2 & Manuel A. Olivera A.3

1Center for Biodiversirty and Conservation, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79 th Street, New York, New York, 10024-5192, USA. E-mail: [email protected] 2Universidad Autonoma Gabriel Rene Moreno, Museo de Historia Natural Noel Kempff Mercado, Casilla 2489, Santa Cruz, Bolivia. 3Collección Boliviana de Fauna, Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Mayor de San Andrés, La Paz, Bolivia.

Primer registro del Tinamú de Taczanowski (Nothoprocta taczanowskii) en Bolivia. Key words: Taczanowski’s Tinamou, Nothoprocta taczanowskii, Bolivia.

A specimen of the Taczanowski’s Tinamou detectable molt, and a completely ossified (Nothoprocta taczanowskii) was collected on 21 skull, wing (unflattened) 179 mm, exposed October 1999 in Area Natural de Manejo culmen 44.74 mm. The specimen was identi- Integrado Nacional Apolobamba, Dpto. La fied using previously published descriptions Paz, Prov. Franz Tamayo, Bolivia of the taxon (Sclater & Salvin 1874: 564, (14° 77’19.5”S, 69° 00’33”W) at c. 3420 m. The Blake 1977, Fjeldsa & Krabbe 1990), and by specimen was collected by shotgun in an comparison to museum specimens of overgrown pasture adjacent to primary mon- tinamous, including one skin of N. tacza- tane forest by M. Herrera. This pasture was nowskii (AMNH 169552) housed at the Amer- located on the semi-humid, north-facing ican Museum of Natural History. Previous slope of a rather steep mountainside; the veg- descriptions refer to the throat as whitish, but etation being dominated by grasses and in both the AMNH and CBF specimens, the scrubby (2–3 m tall) woody plants (Polylepis throat is a dull pale greyish buff, which grades ssp., Gynoxys ssp.), with the occasional Puya sp. into the darker greyish brown of the neck and The bird was first seen at approximately 09:00 upper breast. h warily crossing a small clearing in the grass, The Taczanowski’s Tinamou was previ- with crest and neck raised and neck out- ously recorded only in the central and south- stretched. The specimen, deposited in the ern Peruvian provinces of Junin, Apurimac, Collección Boliviana de Fauna (CBF 03538), Cuzco, and Puno (Collar et al. 1992) and has is a male (left testis 13 x 4 mm) with no fat or previously been considered a Peruvian

181 VOGEL endemic (Stotz et al. 1998). This rare and little funded by the Center for Biodiversity and known tinamou is considered vulnerable in its Conservation, AMNH, and led by James limited distribution (Stattersfield et al. 1998), Aparicio, Director, CBF. Many thanks also to though this may be more indicative of the dif- the curators at AMNH Dept. of Ornithology, ficulty in procuring specimens than of actual who most kindly permitted us the use of abundance (Collar et al. 1992). Collar cites that specimens entrusted to their care. only 16 specimens were in existence by 1992 (Collar et al. 1992). Although apparently REFERENCES sparsely distributed throughout its range, this range extension is not entirely surprising as Blake, E. R. 1977. Manual of Neotropical birds, N. taczanowskii occurs in suitable habitat in Vol. 1. Univ. of Chicago Press, Chicago. adjacent Puno, Peru. The patchwork of Collar, N. J., M. J. Crosby, & A. Statterfield. 1994. uncleared semi-humid montane scrub, Birds to watch2: Threatened bird areas of the burned and cleared pasture land, and regener- world. BirdLife International, Page Bros Ltd., Norwich. ating pastures in the area the specimen was Collar, N. J., L. P. Gonzaga, N. Krabbe, A. Mad- collected in, has probably created an appro- rono Nieto, L. G. Naranjo, T. A. Parker, III, & priate, albeit artificial, “tree-line” habitat for D. C. Wege. 1992. Threatened birds of the the species. It would be worth investigating Americas. The ICBP/IUCN red data book. what effects the burning of high elevation International Council for Bird Preservation, pastures has upon the distribution of the Tac- Page Bros Ltd., Norwich. zanowski’s Tinamou. It should be looked for del Hoyo, J., A.. Elliot, & J. Sargatal. 1992. Hand- on similar semi-humid slopes at the tree-line book of the birds of the world. Volume 1: ecotone in western Bolivia. Ostrich to ducks. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. After the present specimen was collected, Fjeldsa, J., & N. Krabbe. 1990. Birds of the high 3–4 juveniles, which were fully capable of Andes. Apollo Books, Svendborg. Sclater, P. L., & O. Salvin. 1874. On Peruvian birds flight, were flushed from the surrounding collected by Mr. Whitley, Part VII. Proc. Zool. scrub. The fact that the male was apparently Soc. Lond. pp. 564 & 677–680. tending the brood is in keeping with other Stattersfield, A., M. Crosby, A . Long, & D. Wege. members of the family and genus (del Hoyo et 1998. Endemic bird areas of the world. al. 1992), but this pattern of parental care has BirdLife International, Burlington Press, Cam- hitherto gone unreported for N. taczanowskii. bridge. We wish to thank Paul R. Sweet (AMNH, Stotz, D. F., J. W. Fitzpatrick, T. A. Parker, III, & D. Dept. of Ornithology) for all of his help, Dr. K. Moskovitz. 1996. Neotropical birds, ecol- R. Terry Chesser (AMNH, Dept. of Ornithol- ogy, and conservation. Univ. of Chicago Press, ogy) for his helpful comments and Susan E. Chicago. Davis and Dr. Eleanor J. Sterling (AMNH, Center for Biodiversity and Conservation) who organized the expedition, which was Accepted 16 October 2000.

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